By Paul Britton
Manchester Evening News
February 19, 2008
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1037284_priest_denies_sexual_abuse
A MAN who was allegedly abused by a priest he regarded as a 'grandfather figure' launched an verbal attack on him as they came face-to-face for the first time in 15 years.
The alleged victim was giving evidence at the trial of John McCollough, 63, a former Church of England rector who later became a Catholic priest.
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| Accused: John McCollough |
He broke down in tears as he took the oath before the jury and then launched two emotional outbursts at Bolton Crown Court, shouting at McCollough: "God help you in the afterlife."
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is one of two alleged victims who were parishioners at Christ the King with Holy Trinity Church in Spring Street, Bury, the jury was told.
McCollough was minister there, where both Catholics and Protestants worshipped, between 1985 and 1995 and was addressed as 'Father', the court heard.
He is accused of indecently assaulting two boys aged under-16.
McCollough, of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, denies a total of 12 charges - 11 of indecent assault and one of gross indecency.
Maurice Greene, prosecuting, said the charges related to a period between March 1987 and February 1993.
The first of the alleged victims to testify shouted out at McCollough after he took the oath before the jury. He said he was abused from the age of about 11 until he was 14.
As he was about to be questioned by Mr Greene, the man shouted: "Why? Why? That is all I want to know then I will go.
Shaking in the dock, he went on: "You do not know how much you have done to me. You do not know.
The man said he saw McCollough as a 'grandfather figure'.
Then, in a second outburst as Mr Greene asked him to recall a specific event in the vicarage next to the church, where McCollough lived, he shouted: "Come and sit on my knee. That is what you said. Come and sit on my knee.
"People like you should not even be in the church. Admit what you did.
Afterlife
"You're a man of the cloth. God help you in the afterlife."
Judge Stephen Everett adjourned for a brief period. The man then broke down and was led away in tears. He later returned to the dock to continue giving evidence.
Mr Greene said McCollough would take boys from the church to a sports club.
McCollough invited the alleged victim to a social event.
He is accused of indecently assaulting him afterwards when they returned to the vicarage.
The man told the jury after he returned to court that a drunken McCollough asked him to sit on his knee.
He added: "I asked him why? He just said 'so I can give you a cuddle'.
"I did not take it in a bad way. I took it as a nice gesture.
"He moved me off his knee so I was sat with my back against his chest."
The man said he struggled then described how McCollough sexually abused him.
"I was a young kid", he told the jury.
"I told him to stop. He did not stop at first but he did eventually."
The alleged victim said he did not tell his family. He said he felt 'ashamed' and had become a heroin addict because of the abuse.
Mr Greene said McCollough then started to ask if the boy could stay overnight at the vicarage.
McCollough is accused of sexually assaulting him there, leaving the boy 'terrified and confused', the court was told.
He is also accused of indecently assaulting him in a vicarage in London as they travelled to Lourdes on a pilgrimage.
The boy stopped attending the church after an indecent where McCollough made him kneel at an alter after he was caught stealing money, the jury was told.
The court heard the allegations surfaced in 2006.
Mr Greene said a second boy, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was sexually abused by McCollough between the ages of eight or nine and 11 at the vicarage. He too was a parishioner, the jury heard.
Mr Greene said: "The real issue is whether these events happened at all. The defendant maintains that nothing happened."
McCollough is understood to have joined the Catholic Church in 1997, moving to Essex to become priest at St Vincent's Church in Dagenham.
Proceeding.
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